On to La Belle and There

We made it to this quaint little town and currently enjoying the hospitality at the city dock.  It even has power and water with no charge.  We plan to repay them by spending some money in town, I'm sure the intended purpose of the dock!  We've already bought a used book from the library and had a great breakfast at the local coffee shop.  After cleaning the boat this morning and working on the varnish repair necessitated by the huge mahi, we took the bikes out for touring around town.  We rode one direction to the city limits and sat at the water's edge in  a quiet little city park.  We tried to visit an historic old house but no one was there to give us information and let us in.  Looking in the window piqued our interest to know more but not this trip.  We crossed the river and saw some masts seemingly in the reeds and went to investigate.  We discovered one of the most fascinating places we've seen the entire trip, Belle Hatchee Marina.  We met the owner and he allowed as to the marina being "a bit different."   It was like looking back a long time.  They apparently specialize in stowing multihulls because they don't have a travel lift and are thereby limited in what size boat they can haul out of the water.  There was an incredible diversity in the type, shape and condition of boats in the yard.  The owner explained to us that the bit of water the marina is on is the original river channel from before the main ICW channel was dug.  We could not see the opening from the main channel to get back to the marina but it must be there!  With high banks on either side it truly is a safe spot in a storm.  Overall, we found La Belle to be a nice town.  Unpretentious, friendly and as modern as she wants to be.

Airboat rides are popular all along the lake.  You can see lanes cut through the reeds and marshlands.  The lake is a birder's paradise and the boats are a way to get there.  I imagine you have to sit for a while to let the noise die away and the birds to return.

If not for the palm tree, this could be a scene in cattle country in Texas.

The Corps of Engineers is repairing large sections of the dike.  In order to do that, they have to build coffer dams like this one to keep the canal at bay (sorry for the pun, I couldn't resist)

Like the piles of sand, gravel, huge rocks and large earth moving equipment didn't give you enough of a clue.

That's our lucky number.

At one of the locks we had to wait on some maintenace to be completed.  While we waited there ended up being 4 boats to lock through at once.  Now that we're on the western side of the lake, we're dropping down, not being raised up.

This is a group photo from on top of the bridge we came under.  The mediterrean mooring sure allows for more boats in a tight spot.

This bird is hunting in the greenery near the boat.

Part of old downtown La Belle.

We had breakfast and I had lunch at this great little coffee shop.  The interior was a well put together blend of modern coffee house and old architecture.